The Path of Ascension 2: A LitRPG Adventure

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Camilla had read the flow of combat well enough to swing her mace in a low sweep, and she was able to trip the golem down to the ground. As soon as the monster landed, they both began hammering it with blows from hammer and mace, pulverizing the golem.

Matt turned to the crossbow wielder that was readying its weapon, and with his AI’s help, was able to get his shield into the path of the next bolt.

The monster was trying to use its ability to skip the bolts to attack the backline again. The glow around both the bolt and the crossbow indicated that there was either a skill at play, or more likely, a rune that was making the shots possible.

Before the golem could get a third shot off, Matt ran forward and closed the distance.

With a slight duck, he tackled the metal monster. Taking a mounted position, he rained down spiked blows on the creature’s face. He was careful not to hit the crossbow.

This was a ruin, not a rift after all. Ruins didn’t have the normal oddity that made it impossible to use the enchanted gear from the rifts.

If he got this crossbow intact, he could use it.

Several crunching blows later, the golem twitched, and he felt the essence rush into him.

Turning, he found the others dispatching what remained of the shield golem.

Before he needed to intervene, Camilla landed a blow that broke through the thicker armor of the defensive golem, and more essence rushed into him.

The group moved to Matt, as he was still sitting on the golem and inspecting the crossbow.

This didn’t belong to a human who needed to hold the weapon, and the golem had the crossbow actually grafted onto its wrist. It meant that there was no real way to take it away. That didn’t deter Matt at all. It just meant that he had to be careful where he cut.

Not knowing the structure of the golem’s limbs, he decided to just take the arm off at the shoulder and err on the side of caution. His spatial bag had room for it.

“So, that’s four enemy types so far,” Matt mused out loud.

“Are the shield users a variant? Or are they the same as the shield and sword users? The frames are the same. It’s just which weapon is turned on first.” Liz’s comment forced Matt to reevaluate his conjecture.

Malcolm spoke up, distracting them all. “Do you all smell that?”

Matt sniffed, and so did everyone else.

Aster yipped at them, and he felt her enthusiasm through their bond. She smelled it as well. It was fresh air. She hadn’t taken note of it, as it was a normal smell, just not down here.

They rushed through the halls, following Aster’s keener sense of smell. Two turns later, they turned into what Matt could only call a hangar.

There was a beam of light illuminating the large room from high up in a corner, and fresh air came through the c***k in the wall.

The far wall had evenly spaced doors that seemed to roll all the way up to the ceiling. With quick steps, the entire group advanced as far as Matt would allow and waited as he gripped the bottom of the large door closest to them, then lifted up. It took quite a bit of effort, but the door eventually rose, revealing a dark rock.

Camilla, in a near panic, exclaimed, “What the f**k!? Where’s my outside?”

They looked up to the c***k in the wall, but Camilla moved before any of them could. With a flick of her arm, her whip which was embedded into her flesh was digging into the c***k in the wall, and she pulled herself up to the c***k. A wiggle later, she popped out and shouted back down.

“It’s just a hole to the outside. Ugh. Feels good to be in the sun again.”

Matt helped the others reach the hole and used Camilla’s whip to pull himself up. The problem was, he was too large to fit through the hole. It was tight for the women, and Malcolm was only able to get through with a large effort and pulling from the outside.

Matt was simply too wide. At almost eighteen years old, he was a big guy for his age. At six foot five and some change, he had the bulk of a man who spent his free time working out and lifting weights as much as he could. His chest was too thick to fit through the small crevice, and he gave up on seeing the light.

Dropping back down, he shouted back, “It’s okay. I’ll just wait in here and explore a bit.”

He didn’t want to ruin their good mood from finally being able to see outside, especially after all the ambushes and traps.

No reason to depress everyone else.

Matt was inspecting the large room they were in, when a few falling rocks brought his attention back to the hole in the wall.

Liz slid back down and dropped the distance to the ground. Aster threw herself from the c***k into Liz’s arms.

“You don’t have to come back into this dark ass maze just for me.”

Matt said it, but he was still touched. She wasn’t out there enjoying the fresh air. He knew that even he wanted to be out there, and he wouldn’t have blamed her for staying out.

“Oh, shut up.” Liz locked arms with him. “I’m not going to leave you behind.”

Matt knew she meant this situation, but he felt the deeper meaning in her comment. No matter the temporary people they added to their team, it was the three of them day in and day out.

It was a comfortable feeling, knowing that he had someone who had his back as much as he had theirs.

The three of them were a family.

Aster made it known that she wanted to be picked up, and Matt didn’t miss her hints that she deserved ice cream either. Not because she came back into the dark, but because she always deserved ice cream.

After making promises that he had no way or intention of keeping, they inspected the rooms. It seemed to be filled with drones of some sort. Four rotating fans were attached to spider constructs. Most of them were in massive racks that took up a large portion of the center of the room.

“I think they’re harvester golems.”

Matt’s statement brought Liz’s attention back to him.

“Oh? Any chance we could get one to work for us?”

“No clue. It’s worth a shot. These types of drones sell for quite a bit. I looked into getting one for this trip, but they’re mostly used after Tier 8, when the rifts get really big. At that point, picking up everything valuable would just take too much time. Even then, the good models, like the ones Travis and Keith have, sell for mana stones a Tier or two above their actual Tier.”

Liz poked the rack. “Are these the good models?”

“I think so. They have the sharp legs of the spider golems, and who knows what they could do when fully powered. Small spatial items are what come with the higher Tier versions, but this is a rift. Well, a ruin. But it’s the same thing. Why would a ruin even need harvesting equipment? The entire rift and everything in it are under its control. Why have the ability to harvest materials?”

They looked from each other, back to the crowded hangar.

A few minutes later, they found Malcolm crawling back in. His feet dangled down, and Matt helped steady him as he dropped the distance.

Looking around, Matt shoved a few carts on their side, and stacked them so that the others could use the impromptu stairs to see the sun without scrambling or being helped.